Ink Fever
by oneiromancer242
Summary: Jean, Jubilee, Nightcrawler and Quicksilver have an unusual mission to complete. Things are made more difficult when an unfortunate accident occurs right before they need to leave, meaning Magneto has to come along for the ride. Sort-of sequel to "Baby Blues".
1. Chapter 1

**A/N : For Cat Girl, who requests a Toddler!Nightcrawler. After this I'm probably going to be taking a break as I'm going away and may not have an internet connection for a couple of weeks. I'll still be writing though, and will do my best to upload.**

Flicking through the thin sheaf of papers she'd been handed, Jean looked more and more sceptical as she read, finally throwing it down on the table and saying

"Very funny. Now where's the real mission papers?"

"Strange as it may sound, I'm afraid they are the real papers" the Professor told her apologetically, "And yes, I know this sounds ridiculous, but it bears investigation"

Jean gave him a long, incredulous look. Picked up the file again, flipped to one of the pages, holding it up as she said

"Seriously? A tattoo parlour?" she asked, "What's so interesting about kids making poor life choices?"

"It's been at the centre of some very anomalous activity," he explained patiently, "Some very Mutant-like activity in fact. I need you to find out more – not just you of course"

"Oh great. Who do I have the pleasure of taking with me?"

"Kurt, Jubilation and Peter"

"No way" The file was flung back down again, and Jean stood, folded her arms huffily and set her lips. "A dumb mission, I can deal with. But I'm not taking the Three Stooges with me"

"Jean –"

"Remember Monaco?" she demanded, "Jubilation and Kurt got lost, and when we found them he was on the run from a bunch of mobsters and she'd accidentally got married. And don't even get me started on the trouble Speedy gets us all into!"

"I only want you to co-ordinate them" Xavier tried to pacify her, "They can complete the investigation, but I need you to be a stable base for them. A level head, if you will. I really do need Kurt for this, and as for the others – can you imagine anyone else in the school who would look less out of place in a tattoo parlour?"

Jean thought about it for a moment, had to admit that he was right. Jubilation looked like exactly the sort of girl who would end up with an ill-advised tattoo one day, even if she actually wasn't. As for Peter, he looked like a rock star at times, she wasn't even sure he didn't already have a little ink on him somewhere.

"Fine" she said at last. Gathered up her file, about to leave when she had been knocked back into her seat by a sudden force, the door of the study banging open. Pulling her hair away from where it had been whipped over her face, she saw Peter leaning over the desk, Xavier wearing that exasperated face he almost always had when the speedster was around, particularly when he had just come tearing into his study without knocking. Again.

"I know I should have knocked, Hi Jean, yes I'm sorry, this is important" he babbled, "Where's Dr McCoy? I really, *really* have to find him"

"What have you done?" Xavier asked in a tone of weary patience, "Or rather, what have you done _now_?"

"Kurt's fault, all of it. I did tell him not to play with stuff, 'specially not in the lab, and I thought Hank would have got rid of that machine after what happened but I guess it was too good to throw out with him being a huge tech nerd and all but –"

Xavier held up a hand for silence. There was that familiar headache, building up behind his eyes. Even blocking his thoughts, Peter was too much when he was agitated, and he looked extremely agitated right now

"First question, what were you doing in the laboratory?"

"Detention, remember? For throwing paper planes in class? Hank made me and Kurt clean out the floatation tank. It's gross in there man, seriously, have you –"

"Second question, what happened to Kurt?"

"He found that machine. Y'know, the… uh… Toddlerator?"

"The _what?_ " Jean cut in. Peter was in front of her in a moment, looking guilty and scared

"You know when my Dad was looking after my little cousin? Yeah, I don't have a Little Cousin Peter. That was me, a Toddlerised me. Thanks for playing blocks by the way, it was cool"

"You mean, you –"

"Yes. Me. And Kurt. Kurt has now also been Toddlerised. I swear it wasn't my fault though, I was just there, and you know what he's like, I mean he's worse than me sometimes, which is really saying something I know. Which is why I really need to find Hank, so –"

"The mission…" Jean said, as if the thought had just occurred to her, "What about the mission?"

Xavier thought for a moment, looked between his two students, before at last he had waved a hand in an _I give up_ gesture and simply said

"We need a teleporter. I'm afraid you'll have to take Kurt anyway. How old is he, Peter?"

"Heck if I know, six maybe? seven? I have no idea. He's small and blue and cute and… well"

"What?" Jean growled at him. He shrank back a little

"He doesn't speak any English yet" he squeaked, "Don't suppose you speak German, Jeanie?"

"No," the Professor answered for her, "but I know who does. Jean, you'll be pleased to know that I have a way of both making this work and keeping Peter out of mischief"

"And that is?"

"You're taking his father too"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N : Well gosh, it appears a cute little clown-girl will hold it against me if I don't hurry this chapter up! Thanks for the encouragement Harls ;-) I have internet for now, but it's patchy and slow, so still won't be updating as fast as usual - the joys of the countryside, eh?**

2.

"Can I fly?" Peter asked hopefully. Offered Jean a sweet, charming grin and received nothing but a shake of the head. "Pleeeeeeeaaaase?!"

"Are you the toddler around here, or Kurt?" His father chipped in, pushed past him to take the co-pilots seat, "And have you ever actually been taught to fly the 'Bird?"

"Well, *no* - but I couldn't drive a car until Xavier gave me his rental to take back, I'm a fast learner!"

"You – wait, what?!" Erik had been about to dismiss his son's chatter again, before in moments the implication of what he'd just said began to sink in and he turned to him with a look of shock. Honestly, he really thought sometimes that Peter was trying to kill himself with some of the stupid things he got up to.

"Uh, yeah" Peter told him, as though to say _'_ _I really have to explain this?'_ , "He just tossed me the keys, remember? I mean, why assume that a shut-in seventeen-year-old who wasn't in school could drive anyway? I learned on the way"

"And it never occurred to you to say 'actually Charles, I don't know how to drive a car'?"

"Why would I do that? It was a good chance, man"

"Regardless of your foolhardy confidence in your own abilities, you are not jeopardising all of our lives by attempting the same experiment in a military jet. Sit down, try to be quiet, and when we get back we can talk to Hank about letting you learn to fly"

Jean beamed at him. Whilst she, like her boyfriend, was wary of Erik, not liking the dark aura that surrounded his mind or the thoughts she sometimes caught from him, she was profoundly grateful for him being along for this ride. As far as she knew, there were four people in the world who could bend Peter to their will, and whilst his father had the least power of them all, it was much better than nothing. Without him there, Peter would have been pestering her for the entire duration of the flight about letting him try, instead of giving her one last pleading puppy-dog look and slinking into the back, where Jubilee was trying to strap Kurt in to his harnesses.

This was transpiring to be a harder task than imagined, not simply because he was trying to wiggle himself free with all four limbs, but also whipping his little tail back and forth every time she tried to fasten the buckles, showing tiny pointed teeth in a cheeky smile. Trying to look serious at an undeniably adorable child's antics wasn't really in Jubilee's vocabulary, and by the time she had given up she was almost giggling herself.

"Can't we, like, leave him unstrapped for now? It's only going to be a short flight right?"

"Certainly not. Kurt, behave" Erik snapped, before remembering why he in particular had been asked to go along, and saying "lassen sie dich in ihr kleinen Fabelwesen schnallen!"

To Jubilee's surprise, Kurt complied, muttered something which she chose not to ask Erik to translate just in case it started a fight, allowing her to fasten the harness and climb into her own, Peter doing the same on the other side of Kurt, who seemed to be sulking. Leaning out as far as he could to see past the small blue boy and say quietly to Jubilee

„Have you seen this lickle tail? Kurt, you're the cutest thing ever buddy, you're never going to live this down" He had grasped the pointed end of the tail in one hand, waving it as he cooed over Kurt, who looked deeply unimpressed and growled at him

„gehen von meinem Schwanz Sie fettes Schwein!"

From the co-pilots' seat there was a low, rarely-heard chuckle and Erik turned slightly to look at his son and give him a knowing smirk.

„He remembers you, Peter"

„What? What did he say?"

„Oh, nothing you've never heard before..." His father grinned back, „Now settle down, children. South Weymouth in 45 minutes"

„I can't believe we're going ahead with this" Jean muttered to him as she made her final take-off checks, „A six-year old teleporter, what could possibly be worse"

„A six-year old teleporter and my son together" Erik told her, concluded his own checks, „It's a good thing you're here. Honestly I'm not sure which of them will be most trouble"

Finally taking off, it had not been long before Kurt had decided to amuse himself on the journey by singing quietly to himself, drumming his heels against the seat.

„Die Räder vom Bus Sie drehen sich," Kurt sang, "drehen sich, drehen sich"

Though neither of them spoke any German at all, and the rhythm was slightly different, Peter and Jubilee had soon recognised the tune, and before long there were three discordant voices, two in English and one in German, loudly and joyfully singing together in the back of the jet, holding one of Kurt's hands each and swinging their legs in time. Erik and Jean exchanged a despairing look at one another, and Jean did not have to be psychic to see that he was thinking the exact same as her: Why me?

Managing to keep up the song for the entire journey, and not ceasing even when the two older ones had unstrapped Kurt and led him by both swinging arms out of the jet, Erik had finally lost his patience with all of them. Spinning on his heel and leaning down with a threatening finger pointing at the little imp;

"Halte die Klappe!" he hissed, Kurt shrank back a little behind Jubilee's legs at his tone. Not sparing the others he straightened and gave both older ones the same pointing finger command, "And you two, No. More. Singing. Clear?"

"Yes Mr Lensherr," Jubilee murmured, set a hand lightly on Kurt's head and ruffled his hair, tried to comfort him. Erik was horrifying when he was annoyed, and she couldn't understand how Peter simply stood looking at him with such a calm, slightly naughty expression. When Erik had at last moved away from them and they had begun again to proceed, Peter nudged Kurt and winked at the boy, then began loudly humming the same tune they had been singing. Jubilee could do nothing but try to restrain her laughter as Kurt joined in and Erik's shoulders immediately tensed up to his ears at the sound. Again he stopped and turned to them.

"What?!" Peter asked innocently, "We weren't singing!"

"No humming, either" Erik had barely turned back before the two boys had managed two notes of a whistled tune, and stopped when he snapped round once more and said angrily "And no whistling, no clicking your fingers, no tap-dancing, no annoying mouth-related noises of any kind"

"Kurt didn't understand any of that" Peter told him with a grin. Erik glowered at him

"He wouldn't need to," Erik growled, "If only the boy twenty years his senior would be a good example to him"

"Sheesh Dadneto, lighten up will you?" Peter grumbled, looked down at Kurt who was tugging at his hand and correctly interpreted that the boy's legs were getting tired, reaching to scoop him up forgetting the boy's powers and surprised when in a little _bamf!_ Kurt was sat astride his shoulders.

"And stop using your gifts so publicly!" Erik told him, "You'll draw too much attention!"

"Can we just stand here while you go rent a car then?" Jubilee asked, with what Erik thought was more of an edge of rebellion than usual. Peter was a terrible influence. She pointed toward a rental place across the road, and Jean gladly reached to take Erik's arm and nodded

"We'll do that, come on" she said, trying to defuse the tension, "Let these kids play for five minutes before we coop them up in a car"

Within a quarter hour, the five of them had piled into a slightly beat-up looking Studebaker and begun the journey into Boston. Glancing in the rearview, Erik saw with a smile that Jubilee had brought a deck of cards with her and Kurt was quite happily joining her in a game of Snap, whilst Peter was curled up beside them with his headphones in and his shades hiding his eyes. For once, all was peaceful in the backseat.

"Everything alright back there?" Jean asked, smiled as she turned and saw the game in progress.

Peter pushed his shades up with one finger, gave her a grin, nodded back at her

"Just wake me when we get to Boston, K?" he said, "And if we could be parked near a burger joint when you do that, it'd be swell"

"You don't want to get something before that?" the redhead asked, concerned, "We could stop on the way if you need to eat sooner"

"Kurt got us some pizza whilst we waited for you to get the car" he explained, "Turns out he only learned you shouldn't take things without paying *after* the age of six"

"Peter!" Jean looked shocked, "You let a child steal?!"

"Problem?" he grinned again, lay back in his seat, pulled his jacket comfortably around himself, "Anyway I can't exactly stop him, can I? If you want him controlled Jean, don't leave him with two people who don't speak the same language as him. Now, as I was saying, wake me when we get to lunch – I mean Boston."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N : I meant to say before, but excuse my terrible German. Feel free to correct me if you like! Having a fantastic time on a well-earned break (though I still have work to do, as usual), taking the dog swimming and going for lots of long, lovely runs in the country. Oh and Harley dear, you flatterer. I know full well I'll never be as smooth as your Puddin', I'm just a serious old scientist ;-)**

3.

Settled into a motel, Jubilee was unpacking the outfit she'd chosen for the next day's mission. Xavier had asked her to pack the most revealing, risque thing she owned, and been disturbingly thorough in explaining to her why her most revealing and risque outfit was unsuitable for the task in hand. Jubilee supposed that the Professor had been young once too, but the idea that he knew what kids who frequented tattoo parlours in bad areas of town should look like was just a little icky to her. Her own clothes having been deemed unsuitable, she had borrowed a gold PVC halterneck from Angela to team with a miniskirt of her own and some fishnets ripped up specifically for the purpose. With the sort of make-up she wouldn't normally wear, she was going to look like dizzy trash, which was exactly the idea.

They had taken two adjoining rooms, neither particularly pleasant but both at least with functioning showers and reasonably comfortable beds, one for Jean and Jubilee and the other for Erik, Peter and Kurt. It hadn't been too much effort to figure out that one of the boys was going to have to take the child-size bed that pulled out from under the main mattress. After a heated debate that sounded even more heated in German, it appeared that despite it being a child's bed the child would not be taking it.

"Flip for it?" Peter suggested, "I don't mind sharing a bed with the rugrat"

"I don't think so boy. Look at the two of us for a moment"

Peter obligingly looked him up and down, glanced in the dirty mirror on the wardrobe, shrugged, and received a pitying look from his father.

"You're younger, stronger, lighter and smaller than me – you, Peter, can take the child's bed"

"But –"

"No arguments, no pouting, and no complaints. You barely sleep anyway, it's only fair"

There was a skitter of high-pitched laughter from the direction of the ceiling, making them glance up to where Kurt was swinging gently from a light-fitting by one foot and clearly finding Peter's annoyed expression very funny indeed. Already piqued by having to sleep on the kiddie bed, the speedster lunged for his tail to give it a pull, winding up catching himself on his hands as he tripped over a ratty-looking rug. Kurt, now atop the wardrobe with a smell of sulphur hanging in the air, laughed even harder at him.

"Why do we have to have him anyway?!" he griped, picking himself up off the floor, "Couldn't I just do whatever he can?"

"No, you're the distraction. You and Jubilee can keep whoever's manning the shop occupied whilst Kurt searches the place"

"For what?"

"How on earth am I supposed to know?" Erik snapped, "I'm just the interpreter-cum-babysitter"

"Dude, he's six, what good is he going to be?!"

"At least *he* has his powers" Erik smirked, "He's not just an ordinary cute little child"

"Hey! I was straight-up *adorable* as a kid! That's practically a superpower!"

"Peter, your toddler self's only power was eating an extraordinary amount for a four-year old, which to be fair is a trait that hasn't lessened with age. At least Kurt can still be helpful on a mission"

"That is so – oh, *wow* now that's just creepy…"

Having turned to trying to coax Kurt down off the wardrobe, Erik had been paying little attention to the adjoining door, but turned at the shocked sound of his son's voice to see Jubilee standing looking awkward and uncomfortable, and wearing considerably less than was usual for her.

"Is it really that bad?" She asked, cringed at the look on Peter's face, "The Professor said –"

"It's not that it's *bad* exactly" Peter interrupted, palms out in a placating gesture. The past year had been quite an education in what not to say to girls, and he was getting pretty good at damage limitation by now, "You look great, just that…. Well, I know you're pretending to be my girlfriend and all but you don't have to wear my girlfriend's clothes"

"I'm sorry, I know it's not really me" she said apologetically, "This looks so good on Spark, I just look cheap"

Taking pity on her, Peter sped over to her and gave her a tight, warm friendly hug, adjusted the strap of the halter a little to sit slightly better on her smaller, shorter frame.

"You look perfect for the purpose, Jubilee" he told her, smiled comfortingly, "We're gonna be totally rock n' roll together. But please, go get changed. You're weirding me out right now"

"Our scout is six and *I'm* weirding you out. Man, the Academy really alters people's perspectives doesn't it?" she turned to go, before pausing and turning back to Peter, biting her lip nervously, "Are you sure you don't mind pretending to be my boyfriend for this?"

"It's a mission, dude, I'll do what I have to" he grinned, "Be prepared though, I'm all over people when I get affectionate"

She laughed, the tension feeling lessened. It was just work after all, and it wasn't like Peter had never hugged, kissed, tickled, generally bothered and even carried her around before now. Maybe it was just the thought of him actually pretending to be in a relationship with her that was bothering her, as if it somehow made it cheating. He was right though – it was just work, and considerably less dangerous than their usual missions.

Erik was still attempting to coax their impish scout down from the wardrobe, sounding more and more irritated as time went on. By the time he had almost got to the end of his tether, he had shrugged and told the boy he could stay up there all night for all he cared – but there wouldn't be any pastries for him if he did. Kurt instantly teleported himself down and rematerialised with his arms flung around Erik's legs, giving him a wobbly-lipped pleading look. He wasn't sure, but he thought Kurt was actually naughtier than his own son, which was impressive.

"You'd best all get some sleep" he said dolefully, "We'll get this over with early tomorrow, then we can get home and get Kurt re-aged"


	4. Chapter 4

4.

The Rosin Dubh Body Art Emporium was not the dark, dingy place they had been expecting. More spacious than the small shop-front would have suggested, well-lit both with several standing lamps and by the large south-facing window at the back of the shop, with clean new-looking tattoo chairs and not a speck of dirt to be seen. The one person visible, however, was exactly what they had expected. A heavily muscled woman with teased, back-combed hair in at least six different colours, entirely dressed in studded black leather and with large vicious spurs on her motorcycle boots. She had turned from where she had been making needle bundles at the sound of the bell above the door, given Peter and Jubilee what would have been a welcoming smile, had it not been for the fact that all her upper teeth were outlined with gold leaf.

"Morning kids," the woman said. Her voice was surprisingly light and clear, "With you in a sec"

"Ah you're cool for now – just checkin' the flash" Peter told her, gave her a self-assured smirk. She nodded, went back to her bundles, didn't look up as she replied.

"Book's on the counter"

Peter gave her a dismissive nod that she didn't see, steered Jubilee toward said counter with an arm around her waist. She had to admit it felt good, the way he was holding her possessively against his side, that hand stroking gently down over the curve of her hip. So much leather on them both that they squeaked where they moved against each other. Back to the tattooist, he gave her a glance over his shades, a quick _you okay?_ look. She nodded, tried to smile brightly back.

"You wanna check this out, doll?" he drawled, "See if you get any ideas?"

"Sure!"

She internally cringed at her own ditzy tone, hating the idea of playing up to such an awful stereotype. Then again, Peter was playing pretty hard too, and she doubted her was enjoying it any better than she was. Dressed in his black leather jeans, silver biker jacket, with an old T-shirt that had been falling apart anyway pulled and ripped so that ragged holes had appeared in it, then washed far too hot so that it clung to his body tightly. Hair gelled into hard, messy spikes and a large spiked collar completed the look – Jubilee couldn't help but think he made a fantastic punk, had even noticed a few people giving him some very admiring looks as they'd walked up that day.

Suddenly, Jubilee let out a high squeak which was nothing to do with either her ditzy act or the hand that Peter had let slip to cup one of her buttocks, and everything to do with the huge, shaggy, powerful-looking dog that she had spotted behind the counter.

"Something wrong, honey?" the tattooist looked up from her work, calling over "Break a nail?"

"She's fine, just seen your dog" Peter tried his best to sound pitying, but genuinely he didn't like the look of the mutt much himself. The tattooist grinned, put the final bundle down, stretched as she got to her feet.

"Don't mind old Cu" she said, ambled over to the two of them, "He only bites when I tell him to"

"Tell him to often?"

"Depends what kind of trouble people cause" she smiled. It wasn't pleasant. "You plannin' on causing me some trouble?"

"No M'am!" Jubilee squeaked, didn't take her eyes off the huge dog.

"Then I suppose you've nothing to worry about, right?" a familiar smell of burned sulphur began to drift through the parlour. Peter and Jubilee carefully didn't react, but the tattooist wrinkled her nose and gave the dog a withering look. "You let one off, Cu? 'Scuse the mutt's manners. Now if either of you wanna get inked today, I'll need to see some ID first"

"No problem," Peter drawled, flashed her a charming smile, knew that they both had failsafe fake IDs in their pockets. Made a show of looking around him to check they were alone before he leaned in to her and lowered his voice, "Actually, my girl here has heard you do some kinda… uh, *special* work here, you know what I'm sayin'?"

The tattooist wasn't impressed. Raised a pierced eyebrow at the boy and gave him a look like she just stepped in him.

"All my work is special, kid" she told him, started to turn away.

"No no… _really_ special" Peter insisted, "Like, you can do stuff after you have them. Cool stuff"

"If there was such a thing as that, it'd cost ya" the tattooist leaned against the counter, "Got the green, kiddo?"

Cut off from extracting his wallet by Jubilee, a panicked expression under her act now, seizing the book of flash art from the counter and turning so that to look where she was pointing, the tattooist had to turn her back. In a moment, Peter saw what had panicked her – a little blue tail twitching back and forth from behind the counter. Shortly after, there was another little _bamf!_ and the tattooist turned again, gave the dog another awful look.

"Seriously Cu, you found a skunk to eat or somethin'?" she asked, then directed her attention back to Jubilee, "You wanna come sit down, hon? If you're sure your guy can pay, I can work you out something real special"


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Thanks so much for your patience with me, and for all the kind and supportive messages after we lost our gorgeous furry baby on Monday morning. It really does mean a lot. One of the things I love about Ficcynet is the sense of community, we all support each other and not just with our writing, so thanks again. You rock. I'm doing fine enough, and here's another chapter.**

 **Oh and by the way, the cover image for this story is actually one of my own tattoos. I'm a bit of an ink-addict.**

5.

Leaving Jubilee to watch the mischevious child they had been forced to bring along once Erik had got all the details he needed out of him, Jean, Peter and Erik had convened to try to make sense of what they had found out. Erik was dubious, Jean even more so. If they had only not had this mission whilst Hank had been off visiting an old colleague, they wouldn't have been in such a predicament – as it was though, they had to rely on the information of a six-year old with a naughty sense of humour.

"How do you even get this stuff off?" Peter complained, scrubbing at his eyes in the poky bathroom, "It's like it's sunk into my face, you guys. I'm never wearing eyeliner again"

"Shame really, it kind of suits you" Jean smirked at him. Tossed him a pack of make-up wipes, "Now get over here and listen to your father for once"

"Hey! I listen a LOT! In fact –"

"Shush" Erik told him. Obligingly, he shut up and joined them. Continued to try to remove the thick black kohl around his eyes. Erik drew breath to begin his report of Kurt's investigations, then frowned and peered hard at his son "Is that safety pin through your ear real?"

"Yeah, did it this morning, why?"

"Didn't it hurt?"

"Not as much as you'd expect" he shrugged, finally satisfied that he'd removed all the make-up and beginning to try to work the gel out of his hair, "Less than a broken leg, or crumbling bones, or running face-first into a truck, or –"

"Point taken, Peter." He said, winced nonetheless at the idea of his son shoving a pin through his ear for the sake of a disguise, "Care to shut up and listen?"

"You asked, man" he grumbled, but obligingly settled down cross-legged on the floor and got out one of his bands to occupy his hands whilst his father spoke, to avoid fidgeting in other ways that he knew annoyed both him and the attentive redhead by his side. It was a little creepy, the way Jean had taken to working with him so well – she'd never been his biggest fan, and Peter strongly suspected it was his ability to keep both himself and the toddlerised Kurt in check that had won her over with such speed.

"According to our young friend, there is only one thing unusual about the parlour" he began. Peter recognised the dubious tone in his voice that said 'but I don't trust this' "And that's an elderly woman who is apparently in poor health, whom he says he saw in one of the back rooms"

"That's it?" Jean said, gave him a doubtful look, "A sick old lady? Great info Kurt…"

"An old lady who is apparently donating a large quantity of blood" Erik corrected, "The child says he saw bags of it in storage, and apparently another in the process of filling"

Jean stared. Shuddered lightly. She *hated* the sight of blood – it made her come over dizzy and sick, always had done. Swallowed hard before she replied

"Why? What could that possibly be for?"

"That, I believe, is a question for another day" Erik told her gloomily, "Which means I'm afraid that more investigation will need to take place. Peter, do you have anything to add?"

"The tattooist is definitely hiding something" he muttered, keeping his eyes on the rapidly spinning band, "Didn't like being challenged about it either. But she pretty much admitted that she was cooking up something special in her ink"

"You don't think….." Jean began, then shook her head, "No, that's stupid, it couldn't work"

"I wouldn't dismiss any idea at this stage, Miss Grey" Erik told her, "do go on"

"If she's giving people tattoos that give them temporary gifts, which is what the file says is going on, then what if the old woman is a Mutant? What if…"

"The blood" Peter said, realisation dawning, "What if the blood's how she's giving people gifts?! Oh man that is *sick*…. But totally cool. I wonder what would happen if a Mutant got one of her tats, if they could get a different gift or enhance their own, or –"

"Peter" Erik snapped, fixed him with a stern paternal glare, "You are not getting a tattoo"

"*Another* tattoo, you mean?" he grinned wickedly. Jean smirked, having suspected as much. Erik looked shocked.

"What? Where do you…. actually, don't, I don't want to know"

"Left cheek of my butt, it's a long story and I don't think he'd even remember doing it" he winked, "we were pretty high at the time"

"Which part of 'I don't want to know' was unclear?" Erik said through gritted teeth, sighed heavily, "We need to know more about this. I'll call Charles, see if he can pick up any information about the woman now he has something more to focus on. In the meantime, we should get some sleep. I need to figure out how we're going to do this."

He rose, stretched out, reached a hand down to help his son get to his feet. Jean smiled secretively to herself. Though Erik put on an excellent façade of being cold and frustrated with his son's antics, you didn't have to spend too long around the two of them to see the degree of protective love he felt towards the young speedster. For his own part, always hungry for affection, Peter would accept any amount of coddling from his father, and she suspected that Erik didn't even know how much he acted like a Daddy Bear where Peter was concerned.

"Sleep well, Miss Grey," he told her courteously, "We'll discuss this further over breakfast, when I've had some time to think"

"Sure," she smiled back genuinely, really starting to warm toward him somehow, "You too Mr Lensherr. Night Peter, see you in the morning"

Returning to their own room, Erik had clapped a hand over his son's mouth to prevent chatter as soon as he'd entered, seeing Jubilee making a shushing motion. Kurt was asleep on her lap, sprawled out with a leg dangling either side of hers, arms similarly akimbo, little head lolling against her bosom in peaceful sleep with his mouth hanging open, held up with her hands folded around his middle. He was even snoring lightly, the tip of his tail twitching a little, reminding Peter of a cat dreaming of catching mice.

"He crashed out after dinner" Jubilee whispered, "Seriously have you seen this kid eat?"

"I know, right?" Peter hissed back. Helped her gently manhandle the blue boy onto the bed and pull the covers over him, where he snuggled down immediately, "Brat's a total pig, it's gross"

Erik turned away, hands over his mouth. Relieved of the weight of Kurt from her arms, Jubilee tiptoed over to him and laid a hand gently on his back, gave him a concerned frown

"You OK, Mr Lensherr?" she whispered. Erik nodded, and she realised that his shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter, hand over his mouth to hold it in.

"Fine, Miss Lee," he told her in a strained, hushed voice, "Just the irony, that's all"

"Oh what?!" Peter hissed, "I'm not allowed to say that?"

His father shook his head, tears standing in his eyes from held-in laughter, gained a little control of himself and whispered back

"Go shower, you look like you stuck your finger in a socket"

Peter gave him a glare, tried unsuccessfully to smooth down his hair. Gave Jubilee a fond goodnight hug before plodding off to the bathroom, leaving his father to watch the sleeping imp.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N : Poll to vote for your favourite of my OCs is still open on my profile - just a reminder! :-D**

6.

"He likes him better, I'm telling you"

Peter was in a thorough mood, folding his arms tightly and slumping back in his seat, resisting the temptation to kick the back of the seat in front of him and jolt Kurt unpleasantly only because he knew he'd be told off again. Jubilee couldn't help but smirk – Peter's face just wasn't built to look mean and moody, and when he was feeling surly he always just ended up looking like a cross between a kicked puppy and a stroppy teenager.

"Don't be dumb," she whispered back, squeezed his knee kindly, "Your Dad loves you, you know that"

"Oh I know he loves me. I just think he *likes* Baby Devil here more"

It did seem that up front, Erik and Kurt were rubbing along remarkably well. Perhaps it was only that the language barrier made others feel cut off, or the obvious delight Kurt took in Erik's company, but they really were closer than they had ever been without the aid of the Toddlerator. Only that morning, Kurt had stolen Peter's sunglasses and led him on a merry dance around the room, cackling with childish laughter the whole time, and with the room not big enough for Peter to build up a decent speed and catch him, his torment was all the more irritating. What was worse, Kurt had carefully timed his teleporting out of the way so that when Peter had lunged for him, he had gone crashing straight into his father – knocking Erik to the floor where he had acquired a nasty lump on the back of his head. He'd shouted furiously at Peter until he'd been reduced to humiliating grovelling, utterly dismissed his protests that it was Kurt's fault on the grounds that Kurt was just a child, and Peter should know better.

"How come you're along for the ride today, Jeanie?" he asked the redhead, who was trying to enjoy the view from the window quietly and not get involved.

"In case you screw this up" she told him shortly, "and we have to pull you out of there"

"Gosh thanks, that really helps my confidence. What makes you think I'll screw up anyway? That woman's nothing special, I could take her down if I – OWW!"

He clutched at his earlobe where the safety-pin jammed through it had suddenly been sharply tugged. Met his father's eyes in the rearview mirror with a wounded look.

"Be. Quiet." Erik told him, "Miss Grey is here for yours and Miss Lee's protection, and you will accept that gladly. You know you can be a loose cannon"

Peter muttered something darkly, slumped down further into his seat. Stuck his tongue out at Kurt who had leaned around in his seat. The kid was wearing Peter's stolen shades, and if he hadn't thought his Dad would tweak his ear again he would have gladly grabbed them.

"Can we go over the plan for the day again?" Jubilee asked hopefully, wanting to break the tense atmosphere, "I don't actually have to get tattooed do I?"

"You scared it hurts?" Peter asked her, still sulking, "It doesn't. It's just like a little scratch"

"No offense dude but you've lived your whole life with nothing but anaesthetic taking the edge off pain for you, I don't really trust your opinion of what hurts"

"You don't" Jean offered her a comforting smile, "We won't let it get that far. You and Peter go talk to the owner, Erik and Kurt will investigate the lady in the back, and I'll be close by. Don't worry – if you need me just think hard and loud for me, I'll be listening"

Jubilee smiled back at the girl, still looking nervous. Up front, Kurt was chattering animatedly away to Erik, who was listening and nodding with a fond little smile.

"He's not as adorable as toddler-you" she whispered to Peter, tickled him in the side and made him squirm and chuckle against his will.

"You knew?" he hiked his eyebrows at her, "how come?"

"Those eyes are unmistakable. You haven't changed so much"

"You still looked after me though. And cuddled me. And let me take naps on you"

"Who'd pass up that chance?" Jubilee grinned, winked at him, "Oh, that's the place! You ready?"

"To pretend to be your sleazeball controlling boyfriend again?" Peter grimaced, "Suppose I'd better be"

"Is it that bad?"

"Not the boyfriend part" he smiled gently, "I don't mind that at all"

Once inside, Erik had waited a few minutes before instructing Kurt. Waited by the back door before the boy had quietly opened it for him. Kurt sulked a little when Erik had firmly told him to go back to the car, but he'd gone anyway, leaving Erik to slink in through a little storage area to where he could hear the steady beep of hospital machinery. Just as Kurt had described, the woman looked deathly sick. Erik couldn't place her age, but she had to be over eighty, with papery-white skin and sparse hair covering her shiny, liver-spotted scalp. Her eyes were closed, but as he approached she blinked and looked up at him. Almost immediately, her hand went to a bell by her side in panic, looking even more afraid when Erik had swiftly moved it out of her grasp.

"Who are you?" the woman rasped, "What do you want?"

""Who I am does not matter" Erik told her in a hushed tone, "Are you in pain? Are you being held here against your will? I can help you, if so"

The woman laughed then. It was a dry, unpleasant sound that made Erik think of the rustling of moth wings and dark, abandoned places.

"This is my house, young man" she told him, her toothless mouth contorting in a gruesome smile, "and you're trespassing"

For a while she was quiet, allowed Erik to look around the small room a little. As he had been told, a small refrigerator close by was filled with bags of blood, and another was being collected from a needle in the old woman's spindly arm.

"You're one of us, aren't you? A Mutant?" the woman said. Though she looked ancient and weak, her eyes were pin-sharp as she fixed them on him. He nodded, she looked satisfied, "Then you will understand. My daughter and I – we're spreading the good news. Giving them a taste of what's to come"

"And what is to come?" he asked cautiously, "What's this good news?"

"We are. We're the good news. The future. They…. They're dying out. With my blood in them, they'll understand why their time is over. Come here"

She beckoned Erik over, so that he stood close by the bedside. He came as though he could not resist, an unsettling feeling of dread and curiosity beginning to grip him.

"When I was young, I could do it just by touching people," she explained, that awful smile returning, "Give them a taste of what it's like. The gifts, they don't last – but it gets into them deep. If they have kids, they're Mutants. Get them young. We can fill the world with our sort. Get rid of theirs."

"That's why you're draining your blood?" he asked, incredulous, "You're spreading Mutation? Making humans into us?"

She nodded, grinned horribly

"The idea pleases you, young man" it wasn't a question, "But you're here to interfere, aren't you? You sent the teleporter, and the young couple out there. You're here to try to stop us"

Erik looked at the fragile woman in the bed, thought hard. Laid a hand over hers and looked earnestly into her eyes as he replied

"I was" he told her. "But not anymore"

He turned and walked quietly away. Closed the back door behind him. Blocked Jean's questions from his mind and made his way to the front of the building, setting the bell on the front door jangling as he walked in. The antiseptic smell wasn't unpleasant, and the shop was clean and welcoming, but the look the tattooist gave him was not – and neither were the growls that immediately began to emanate from behind the counter. Unthinking, Erik reached out with his power and slipped a chain hanging nearby around the dog's neck, wound and knotted it around the leg of the counter. The dog snarled and strained against the chain.

"Got a problem?" the heavily pierced woman asked, rising to her feet. She was taller than Erik, but he didn't look intimidated in the slightest. Kept his eyes leveled on her as he snapped.

"This girl is my daughter, and I have expressly forbidden her from getting a tattoo"

"She's overage and she's got cash," the tattooist grinned, "You don't get a say"

Peter thought fast, moved from where he was slouched against a tattooing chair to stand beside the tall woman, gave his father a panicked questioning look.

"Hey, Mister? What's the big deal? She wants some ink – beat it" he said as cockily as he could, shocked when the look of hatred Erik shot him looked genuine.

"I should have known better than to let her dally with the likes of you" he sneered, "come on, both of you – we're leaving"

"Wait!" Peter stammered, this really wasn't the plan, "Are we done? We don't seem to be done"

"We are done" Erik said very quietly and calmly. "Get. Out"

Exchanging a worried, confused look, Peter grabbed Jubilee's hand and pulled her out of the shop, not looking back as he walked her briskly to the waiting car. He had no idea what was going on, but with the look on his Dad's face, it couldn't be good.


	7. Chapter 7

7

"Your daughter, huh?" the woman asked. Moved to circle away from Erik, but didn't break eye contact, "Weird, if either of those kids looked like yours, it wasn't her"

"I'd hardly say it matters. I know what you're doing here" he replied, kept his voice even and calm, watched her closely nonetheless, "I don't mean you any harm, I'm here to warn you"

She laughed a hoarse unpleasant laugh. Then she was on him, faster than he could react, knocking him to the floor where she pinned him with an arm across his throat

"Warn me about what? What'dya think you're gonna do to me, huh? Trust me, one little push and I'll snap your neck like a twig, what warning do you think I need from you?"

She was strong, but Erik stayed calm, reached out and grabbed hold of the metal edging on her top teeth. Pulled as hard as he could. Felt her arm release as she screamed and blood spattered down onto his face, still covering her bloody mouth when he had picked himself up and shoved, pushed her down into a chair and threw the three teeth he'd extracted into her lap.

"You foolish woman, we're on the same side!" he spat, "I share your dream – I'd help you if I could, but all I can do is warn you. I take it you're more willing to listen to me now?"

The tattooist pulled her hand away from her mouth, blood still pouring, examined her crimson fingertips and nodded

"Run. Take your mother, pack up your shop. Set up somewhere else, but don't come back here. Am I clear?"

"As a bell," she muttered, spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor, "One thing though"

"What?"

"Does your little friend agree with you?"

Erik turned, just caught a glimpse of blue fur as Kurt _bamfed!_ out again. Cursed under his breath. How long had the imp even been there? Had he heard everything? He got his answer soon enough as Jean and Peter had burst through the door, the redhead looking ready to kill. Seeming almost to glow with fury.

"Want to tell me what's going on?" she asked. Erik snarled at her, a wave of his hand and he had pulled open a case of tattoo needles, flung them at her, frustrated when she was knocked out of the way by his son.

"Dad, what are you doing?!" Peter yelled, "Are you crazy?"

"If you don't want to get hurt, Peter, stay out of this!" he yelled back. Jean was getting to her feet, knocking the tattooist flying with a blast of telekinetic force as she advanced on him, "If you want to learn, then just stay"

"Learn?" Jean asked, deflected another volley of needles with one hand, "We're supposed to stop this, not help these people!"

"They're Mutants!" he thundered back at her. Let the dog loose from its chain, which he now whirled around to bind Jean's arms to her side, threw her hard at the wall and held her there. Terrified, Cu whined and bolted into the back room "Don't you have any loyalty?"

"To the Professor" she said levelly, did not struggle, tried to reach his mind but found herself blocked out, "Not to you"

"Peter, help that woman up" he commanded. His son didn't move, seemed rooted to the spot, "Did you hear me boy, help her!"

"No" he said, cleared his throat, sounded stronger when he repeated, "No, Dad. I want to help Mutants too but this isn't the way!"

"You've had your head filled with nonsense for too long!" Erik roared. To his surprise, Peter stood his ground, flinched but did not retreat, "If you want to help your kind, let these people do their work in peace"

"I won't!" Peter yelled back. Terror made his voice shake, but Jean was proud of the firmness with which he stood, "You can't just –"

He was cut off by a yell, and covered his face as blood exploded all over the room. Coating the floor, spattering up the walls and furniture, splashing in streaks and dots all over them. Kurt jumped down from the light fittings, stamped on the last intact bag. Teleported out of reach as the tattooist cried out and lunged for the empty bags.

"What have you done?!" she yelled, anguished, "That's all we had! You little –" got to her feet, slipping in the blood "Mom? Are you okay?" Mom!"

"She's dead," Jean said quietly, "I'm sorry. She went about an hour ago"

The tattooist said nothing. Slipped again, this time didn't catch herself. Sat in the pool of blood with a blank look on her face.

"That's all we had," she said softly, "We're… done now. You ruined it"

Seeing her chance, Jean pulled the links of the chain apart, dealt Erik a hard punch in the face that knocked him over, feet going out from under him on the slippery floor. Floated herself over to Peter to stand with him as his father struggled to his feet. Did not look at the blood all over the shop, though she knew she'd see it in her nightmares.

"Make your own way home, Magneto" she said quietly, "Peter, if you want to come back in the Blackbird you're welcome to. If you want to stay with your father, I'd understand. But I'm finished here"

Kurt followed as she left. For a moment, Peter simply looked at the broken furniture, the spreading lake of blood. Then he went to the tattooist's side, knelt down beside her, laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry about your mother" he said earnestly, "Can we do anything to help?"

She stared at him, shocked silent. Shook her head. He sat with her a while, then giving her shoulder a last squeeze, walked back to where his father was standing.

"That was not cool, Dad" he said. Erik glared, he didn't back down, "I get that you want Mutants to have the upper hand and all, but look at this place – is this what you want? Really?"

"This is what war looks like, Peter" Erik growled back. Peter shook his head.

"No dude, this is what your temper looks like" he dropped his eyes, "I'm going back in the 'Bird. I hope you come home, but…. this isn't right, Dadneto. And I won't join you doing it".

He left. Closed the door behind him softly.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N : And here we are - the conclusion of this story! A little reminder that I now only have one prompt left on my pile, so ideas and suggestions are very welcome. PM or comment, I will do my best! The reader poll to find out your favourite of my OCs remains open on my profile, so thanks if you've voted already and if you haven't, there's still time.**

 **Thank you as always for reading and reviewing. There's so much positivity here, it really helps me out knowing people enjoy reading my stuff as much as I enjoy writing it.**

8

Debriefed, thanked, and congratulated, Xavier had watched his team file back out of his study, Jubilee and Jean to accompany the tiny blue terror they had been obliged to take with them down to Hank's lab to get him restored to a proper age. They had also been requested to ask Hank to destroy the machine, lest any more unfortunate accidents befell any of the students. Letting them go ahead, Peter had hung back a little, turned to the Professor, seemed to be having trouble getting words out.

"Sit down," Xavier told him gently, closed and locked the study door, sat for a moment watching the boy try to get comfortable in a chair. It was always hard for Peter to sit without fidgeting, and just at the moment he looked like he'd rather do anything but keep still, but he made a valiant effort nonetheless. "I take it you're struggling with what you saw today. It's understandable, Peter. Would you like to talk to me about it?"

The boy shrugged, raked both hands back through his rigidly spiked hair and wiped his palms on his shirt in distaste, having forgotten all the gel.

"It's not like I didn't know my Dad could be like that" he began, poked at the carpet with the toe of his boot, "I mean, the whole imprisoned in the Pentagon slash Horseman of Apocalypse thing is kind of a giveaway that he's no saint, but…."

"You thought he'd changed" Xavier finished for him. Peter nodded sadly, cuffed his nose, looked up at him with big, wounded puppy eyes.

"I guess," the boy murmured, "He's seemed different, the past year, y'know?"

"He is, I promise you. He's changed a great deal with you in his life. You've brought him a lightness and calm that nobody else has been able to, and you should be proud of yourself for that, your love has done great things"

"But he's still Magneto"

"I'm afraid so," Xavier wheeled out, reached and put a hand kindly over Peter's where they rested clenched in his lap, "What has made him the way he is has taken decades. You won't change it in a year, if you ever will"

Quiet for a long while, Xavier resisted the urge to take a peek into Peter's mind, find out what was going on behind that furrowed brow and hurting eyes. Eventually, the boy had looked up at him and said

"I think it's worse because he's not wrong, not really. Mutants _are_ superior to humans, we can do stuff they can't dream of. That's why we protect them – because they can be fragile and weak. I want us to have what we deserve too – be respected and accepted the way we should be"

"As do I, Peter. That's one reason why my school exists"

"It's not what he believes. It's how he wants to do it. I just…"

"You don't feel that the ends justify the means?"

"No… " Peter hesitated, licked his lips nervously, "It's not that. I'm scared that I think they do. I'm worried that I love my Dad so much that I'd follow him, in the end, and help him do things his way. That's in me, I know it is – I'm still his son even if I was raised by a human mother. People just see this nice, silly kid who couldn't harm a fly, but I think I could be angry that way if I saw enough bad things happen to good Mutants"

"I don't think of you like that at all, I'm afraid," the Professor told him, smiled enigmatically in response to his confused glance, "You're incredibly strong, one of our most powerful students in fact, and your force of will and conviction are an asset to us. But I know that you, like any one of us, could be a dangerous enemy if you were not fighting with us. I'm glad you are, it would sadden me beyond measure if you were to turn"

"Would you stop me?" he asked seriously, "If I went bad?"

"In a heartbeat. A human heartbeat that is, not one of yours, I'd need more time than that"

Peter flashed him a brilliant grin, appreciated the attempt to lighten the mood. Whilst he often had to be serious for his students, Xavier could be cheeky and playful at times, and Peter welcomed having someone like that around. The Professor returned to his desk, got out a sheet of paper and began writing something down, saying as he did

"You make your own choices, my friend. I will guide you all I can, but in the end, your life is yours to live as you choose. Here"

He handed Peter the paper, which he was puzzled to see contained only an address in Upstate New York. Looked questioningly at the Professor.

"Your father's current bunker" he explained. "If you want to go and see him, please tell him that he's welcome back at the Mansion, if he wishes. I'm not telling you to though, only go if you want to"

Peter stared at the address, thought hard for a few minutes. Finally folded it and tucked it away in his pocket, looking up at Xavier with a weight seemingly lifted from his shoulders. Felt better with the option of knowing where his father was, even if he didn't have to go find him just yet.

"Thanks." He smiled, "I might go, tomorrow maybe. Give him some space to think"

"As you wish," Xavier smiled back, "I meant what I said, you are the most powerful force for good in his life, and I would not take that away from him. And with him here, you've changed too. You're stronger, more grown-up. You're a good influence on each other"

"First time for everything, I guess" Peter smiled warmly, reached to shake Xavier's hand and make for the door, turning as he reached it, "I wondered why you two were such good friends you know. But I can see it now – you know he's not all bad"

"He knows I'm not all good" the Professor replied with a knowing smile. Allowed the boy to leave, knowing that whatever decision he made would be the right one. Hoped he would never have to train his students to go up against the boy who was unbeatable even in a friendly game of Tag. Hoped he would welcome his old friend home again soon, to allow Peter to continue the good work he was doing without even meaning to.


End file.
